Life After Misty
by PikaSass
Summary: The final chapter in the triology. A little more serious than the other two. Must've read "Desperate Measures" and "The Love of an Older Woman!"
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Me no own Pokemon!   
  
A/N: The final chapter in the triology of our weird stories while on sugar highs! Part one!  
  
"In this special bulletin, Misty Ketchum, the authority of water Pokemon and wife of the worlds greatest Pokemon master, Ash Ketchum, has drowned at Seafoam Island... " Ash sighs as he hears the tv ramble on. The disadvantages of being a Pokemon master, the whole world knows everything about what happens to you.  
He quickly turns off the tv and slumps back on the couch. Why did she die? She didn't deserve it. And he didn't think he deserved to be put through this torture. She had been gone for three days, and it seemed like three years of pain.  
Pikachu enters the room and sits down beside Ash on the couch.  
"Pika Pi, Pika Pikachu, Chu, Pikachu" it sighs (translation: Ash, are you feeling any better?)  
"Do you think I'm feeling any better?!" Ash yells.   
Pikachu goes quiet. It was hard to believe that 20 years ago they hated each other, and now here Ash was mourning over her in a state that Pikachu had never witnessed before.  
Pikachu decided to leave its best friend alone for the time being and sulks off to visit Togechikku, who is also in the grieving process.  
  
********************************************************  
  
Back in Celadon City, James is also watching the same news programme, only he doesn't turn it off. The report continues.  
"Her funeral took place yesterday on the same beach where she died...."  
James hears the news, but doesn't take it in. Misty dead? It didn't seem right. Her, the person who he remembered as the girl with Togepi who followed Ash and Brock around. The person who started the relationships of her and Ash, and him and Jesse.  
"Is there something wrong?" The Officer Jenny of Cleadon City asks (also known as his wife)  
James turns off the tv. "No, nothing's wrong" he mumbles. His mind is working overtime. He must visit Ash and see how he's doing, goodness knows how he's coping. (remember folks, James has changed to a life of good, see "The Love Of An Older Woman")  
"Are you sure?" Jenny asks  
"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking" James says seriously  
Jenny shrugs, and walks out of the room. James goes into his room and starts packing.  
Jenny enters the room and her eyes go wide. "What are you doing? Why are you packing? Have I done something wrong?" She asks a series of questions.  
James takes her hands and she goes quiet. "Listen, I need to go to Seafoam Island for a week or two, it's...business" he reassures her.  
"You work at a trading center" Jenny gives him a confused look.  
"Well, someone in Seafoam Island...uh, traded the wrong Pokemon, and can't come over...and I need to see my friend" James stutters.  
Jenny sighs. "Okay. Don't be gone too long, I'll miss you."  
James smiles and gives her a kiss goodbye. He walks out the door and drives in his red VW Beetle to Celadon Airport.  
Luckily, he can catch the next flight out to Seafoam Island, which is in twenty minutes.   
After a quick flight, he makes tracks for the Pokemon Center, where he books his accomodation.  
"Uh, would you be able to give me directions to Ash Ketchum's house?" he asks Nurse Joy.  
"We just can't give that information to anyone, you know" Joy replies.  
James seems stumped, then remembers a photo he keeps in his wallet.  
"But I'm a friend" he says, flashing the photo. It shows a picture of Ash, Misty, Brock, Jesse, James, Meowth and Pikachu after peace was declared between the two groups.  
Joy peers closely at the photo, and satisfied, gives him the needed directions.  
James starts walking and stares at the beach as he does. He arrives at Ash's house in ten minutes and hesitates before knocking. Should he be here? He makes his decision and knocks firmly.  
Inside, Ash is thinking seriously, then hears the knocks. Probably some kind of media. Something inside him makes him get up anyway and he opens the door. He instantly recognises who it is and stares in surprise.  
"James?" he asks.  
James nods and gives him a sad smile. "Long time, no see huh?"  
"Tell me about it. So what are you doing here?" Ash inquires, motioning for James to come in and shutting the door behind him.  
"Well, I heard about...you know..." James trails off uncomfortably. This isn't as easy as he imagined.  
Ash nods slowly. "Yeah. Thanks for coming, I appreciate it. If it wasn't for you, Misty and I never would've got together. Brock and Jesse are here too, if you wanna drop by and say hi to them" Ash mentions.  
James raises his eyebrows. Jesse? The person who chose Brock over me? Well this isn't the right time to think about that, he thinks sadly.   
"You can go and visit them now now if you want." Ash says quitely. James considers  
"Will you be alright?"  
"I'll be fine, Pikachu will keep me company"  
"You still haven't evloved it yet?" James asks.  
"Not now, not ever" Ash says solemly. He gives James diections to where Jesse and Brock are staying.  
  
********************************************************  
  
Meanwhile, Jesse is at home by herself, waiting for Brock to return after taking his Pokemon to the Pokemon Center. She hears a knock and says  
"Brock, is that you?"  
"Prepare for trouble!" says an old familiar voice  
"Prepare for trouble?" Jesse inquires  
"And make it double!" Was the reply  
"James!" she squeals while opening the door   
"Uh, we haven't finished yet" James informs  
"Oh yeah, to protect the world from devasation"  
"To unite all peoples within our nation"  
"To denounce the evils of truth and love"  
"To extend our reach to the stars above"  
"Jesse"  
"James"  
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light"  
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"  
The two old friends laugh and hug each other. "I can't believe it! Why are you back?" Jesse asks, suprised.  
"I heard about Misty and had to come over. I haven't told my wife the real explanation" James says as he walks in.   
"You're married?" Jesse inquires quietly.   
"You won't believe to who! Officer Jenny in Celadon City!" James laughs.  
Jesse gasps. "Times change, huh?" she mutters.  
"Well you're obviously married too" James notices the ring on her 4th left finger.  
"Yeah, I got a thirteen year old daughter too" she mumbles quickly.  
"Really? Wow, we've got a lot to catch up on!" James says.  
Jesse is secretly relieved that James isn't angry. "You wanna coffee?" she asks politly.  
James shrugs. "Yeah sure, flat white please."  
"I can remember that far back" Jesse assures him.  
They sit down as the kettle is boiling, and within five seconds Kreihana has entered the room. (Jesse's daughter)  
"Hey mom, have you seen my green tank top?" she asks Jesse, then notices James's presence. "Who's that?" she points.  
"Well, this is my old friend James. We haven't seen each other in 20 years" Jesse explains.  
"Wow, that's older than me! Well, I'm Kreihana. Oh, have you met dad?" she asks eagerly.  
"Uh, yeah" James mutters.  
"But he's out" Kreihana points out.  
"Not anymore!" Brock enters the room and stops as he discovers James sitting in his temporary kitchen (they live in Cinnabar Island, remember). Not showing his feeling of being threatenend by her ex-boyfriend, he warmly welcomes him to Seafoam Island.  
Kreihana gives her daddy a hug and runs off to her room, in search of her top.  
They all catch up for about an hour before James announces he has to leave.  
"Okay, well visit any time you like" Jesse subtly mentions.  
As soon as he leaves, Brock asks, "What is he doing here?"  
"He heard about Misty and probably came to see how Ash was doing, is that okay?" Jesse almost snaps. They've been married for fourteen years and he still can't help feeling suspicious.  
Brock sighs. "Sorry. I don't want anyone stealing you from me."  
Jesse smiles and gives him a hug. "No one is gonna steal me" she reassures him.  
  
********************************************************  
  
Back in Hollywood, Meowth and Meowsie are about to leave and are giving their children's babysitter some last minute instructions. They are leaving to visit Ash (surprise surprise) and maybe go to Cinnabar Island to visit Jesse (they don't kow that she's staying in Seafoam for a while). Before arriving at Ash's they had to spend nearly half an hour convincing Nurse Joy that they were friends, not the media. They somehow reach the door handle and are answered by Pikachu.  
"Pika, Pika, Pikachu?" (Translation: Who are you? It hasn't seen Meowsie before)  
"You don't remember the only decent member of Team Rocket?" Meowth jokes  
Pikachus eyes widen and it invites them in. Ash is slumped on the couch, holding a photo of Misty and him together at the age of seventeen.  
Meowth, Pikachu and Meowsie enter the room. Ash hides the photo and welcomes Meowth before being introduced to Meowsie. After about half an hour of talking, Ash tells Meowth about Jesse and James staying in Seafoam for about two weeks.  
"Really!?" Meowth nearly bursts with excitment.  
"Sure, James came over yesterday, he's staying at the Pokemon Center, and here's Jesses address, go and visit them now."  
Meowth and Meowsie leave and speed to Jesses home (for the moment) and the door is opened by Kreihana  
"Look mom, a cute pair of Meowth!" She squeals  
"Um, I think we've got the wrong address" Meowise mumbles in Meowth language  
"Two Meowth huh? Let me see..." Jesse walks to the door.  
"Meowth!" Jeese screams  
"The one and only" Meowth says.  
They have another hour of catch up, before going off to the Pokemon Center, not only to get settled in their room there, but to visit James.  
"I think I'll call home and see how the kids are" Meowsie says as they finish unpacking.  
Meowth looks at her in surprise. "Are you sure?" he asks.  
Meowsie nods. "Go see your friend" she jokingly orders.  
"Okay..." Meowth says uncertainly.   
He discovers that James's room is four doors down from his, so the walk is short. He knocks twice and it isn't long before James opens the door.  
"Meowth?!" he asks in surprise.  
"That's right!" Meowth exclaims.  
James laughs and lets him in. "What are you doing here? Don't you live in Hollywood now?"   
"Yeah, but we thought we'd come and visit Ash and see how he is" Meowth says, settling into the couch.  
"Have you seen Jesse?" James asks.  
"Yup. Saw her about an hour ago, and her daughter...uh, is it, Kreihana?" Meowth tries to recall.  
"Yeah, that's right. Did you see Brock?"   
"No. She married Brock? Wow, I didn't think that was going to last. What about you? Are you taken?" Meowth says in a teasing tone.  
"By the Celadon City Officer Jenny" James grins.  
Meowth bursts into laughter. "She kicked us out of the Pokemon League twenty years ago" he remembers.  
James laughs along. "True, I forgot about that."  
They have a good old chit chat and Meowth leaves, informing James of where he is staying.  
Meowth walks back to Meowsie and lies down on their bed. It's been an exhausting day, and he has no trouble getting to sleep.  
  
********************************************************  
  
Two days later, James has decided to stay for another two weeks. After calling up Jenny and informing her of his decision, he decides to go over to Jesse's house.  
"Hey, what are you doing back here?" Kreihana answers the door again.  
James laughs. "I'm staying here for a couple of weeks, didn't your mom tell you?"  
Kreihana shakes her head. "Mom forgets things" she rolls her eyes.  
James walks in and Kreihana starts calling out for Jesse.  
"Hey, did you know Misty?" Kreihana asks.  
James smiles. "Yeah. We go back as far as me and your mom."  
"Really? I never knew her. Everyone around here is so sad cos she died, but I didn't know her so I try to keep everyone happy" Kreihana says.  
"Cool. Oh, hi Jesse" James greets Jesse as she walks in.  
"Howdy stranger, what brings you back so soon?" Jesse asks.  
James sighs. "I can't sit in my room and think about Misty all day...I need to get out and do something."  
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Okay, let me put my shoes on and we'll go for a walk" Jesse suggests.  
"Sure" James agrees. Jesse runs off to her room to grab her shoes.  
"Hey, how did you know my dad?" Kreihana keeps asking questions.  
"He was Misty's friend" James explains.  
"Ahhh" Kreihana nods her head. "I see. You guys must have been, like, a really close group of friends, huh?"  
James shakes his head. "Definatly not. I'll explain it to you when I get some time."  
Kreihana shrugs. "Okay. Well, I'm meeting my friends at the Pokemon Center...one of them has an actual Kreihana pokemon!" she squeals.  
"Really? Cool, they're really neat" James tells her.  
Jesse returns wearing jeans, a green t-shirt and sneakers. "Ready to go?" she asks.  
James stands up. "Ready when you are."  
"Now Kreihana, you be back by five, okay?" Jesse instructs her daughter.  
"I know, mom, go walking" she says in an exasperated tone.  
Jesse smiles and closes the door behind her.  
"She's a curious one, your daughter" James laughs.  
"Really? What did she do?" Jesse says in a wary tone.  
"Oh, nothing, she just liked asking questions about Misty and everything" James assures her.  
Jesse stares at the ground. "I never would've said it twenty years ago, but I really miss her" she says quietly.  
"I know, everyone does. It was a terrible thing that happened, and I can't imagine what Ash is going through. But anyway, we're walking to temporarily forget that, where are we going?" James asks eagerly.  
Jesse stares at the cloudless sky and thinks for a moment. "Well, we could go to the mysterious cave."  
"Oooh, a mysterious cave?" James asks.  
Jesse laughs. "Yeah, apparently it's full of heaps of water pokemon. I'd never go in there, but it's nice around the outside, a few stalls and stuff...well, from what I've seen. Ash always goes inside when we visit" she clears up.  
"What, don't you go in too?" James grins.  
"No way, it's too dark" Jesse shakes her head. "I check out the stalls."  
They walk the five minutes in anything but silence, laughing and talking and teasing each other.  
"Well, here we are" Jesse indicates the cave.  
"Wow, awesome" James breaths. It's big and dark, and strange noises can be heard, but their identity is unknown.  
"Why don't we go in?" James asks excitidly.  
"Cos we'd never get out" Jesse replies.  
James sighs. "True, we both don't know our way around here."  
More stalls then usual are set up, with different variations. There's souvenirs, clothes, jewellary and crafts.  
"Wow, I love this bracelet" Jesse holds up a beaded bracelet with small seashells after every five beads.  
"How much is it?" James asks.  
Jesse reads the pricetag and puts it back down. "Too much" she sighs.  
James reads it too, and directs his attention to the stall keeper. "I'll take this one, please" he says, taking some money out of his wallet.  
"James, what on earth..." Jesse gets cut off as James hands her the bracelet.  
"Here. To cheer you up" he says.  
Jesse stares at it and then takes it with a smile. "Thankyou" she says quietly.  
Suddenly they hear a roll of thunder and look up. The once cloudless sky has now turned an ugly grey.  
"Oh great, we're gonna get caught in a storm" Jesse groans.  
"Come on, let's try and get back" James says, and they walk quickly away. It isn't long before they feel raindrops and another thunder clap can be heard.  
"Arghh, we're too late!" Jesse exclaims.   
"C'mon, there's a bus shelter over there, let's camp out there till the rain stops" James points to the shelter.  
"Sure" Jesse agrees, and they run over.  
"Man, I'm soaked!" Jesse shivers.  
"I hope the rain stops soon. Are you okay?" James asks.  
Jesse nods, then sneezes. "It's a teensy bit cold" she smiles.  
James hesitates, then puts his arm around her shoulder. "That any better?" he asks.  
Jesse cautiously looks up. Should she be doing this? She grins and reminds herself that they're only friends. "Yeah, thanks" she says.  
They stay huddled like that for ten minutes, before the rain lightens up.  
"Come on, let's make a run for it" Jesse stands up.  
"Are you sure? You're still cold!" James reminds her.  
Jesse shrugs. "Let's just run home."  
James reluctantly stands up and runs after her. "Hey! Wait up!" he yells.  
"I was always faster than you!" Jesse laughs, not once looking back.  
They reach her house in two and a half minutes, and find it empty. "Kreihana should be back in about ten minutes...I wonder where Brock is?" Jesse asks herself.  
They notice a note on the table "Dear Jesse, I picked up Kerihana from the Pokemon Center and we went to the movies. Won't be too long. Love Brock"   
"Brock sure does a lot with his daughter, they're really close" Jesse explains.  
"Oh, okey, well, I better get going" James says uncertainly  
"No stay, it gets boring all alone all the time." Jesse quickly replies  
"Okey" James and Jesse grab a hot chocolate and sit in the lounge watching the video "The People vs. Snorlax" (Made so long ago, it's tacky) They laugh most of the way through it.  
When the movies over, Brock and Kerihana are still not home so they chat about their past  
"How did your parents take it when they found out about you marring Officer Jenny?" Jesse asks lightly (James' parents are rich in socity and used to have a girl ready for James to marry)  
"They filpped out a bit, but have met her so it's alright. We've been married for so long, and you, my best friend, didn't know." James says sadly  
"I know, I'm sorry, we never should have drifted apart" Jesse mumbles.  
"It's not your fault Jesse. I've really missed you" They hug. Jesse looks at James in the eyes, and feels sad.  
"Jesse..." James trails off. What are you doing? A voice inside Jesse screams out Brock is out, and it seems like he's always out a voice answers back. James holds his breath, and kisses Jesse. He pulls apart, and Jesse is feeling guilty. She likes James, but has a husband and kid. What should I do? I like him, we know each other so well, so many bad things have happened, why can't I just be with him? Her mind spins out. They stand there in silence, then Brock comes in, laughing with Kerihana. Jesse and James pull apart before they see.  
"How was the movie?" Jesse asks nervously  
"Are you okay?" She seems on edge Brock thinks. It better have nothing to do with James a annoying voice tells.  
"It's just the lastest events and everything" Jesse reassures.  
Kerihana shrugs "Hey James, have you heard the latest news? Team Rocket have taken over Fuschia City!"  
James' eyes grow wide. "Really? Team Rocket have been around for a while huh?"  
"Yeah, I've got lots of Pokemon in my room, wanna see them?"  
"You're a Pokemon trainer?" James asks  
Kerihana shurgs "Sort of, I catch, collect and raise my favourites"  
"Yeah, I'd love to see them!" James exclaims.  
Kreihana grabs his arm and drags him to her room.  
"What is he doing here?" Brock demandes  
"Is it illgal or something to have my best friend over!" Jesse argues  
"I'm sorry, it's just that-"  
"Listen Brock, James and I haven't seen each other for 20 years. 20 years! Imagine that with your best friend."  
Brocks anger builds, then he notices the braclet on Jesses arm.  
"What's that?" Brock asks, pointing  
"A thing called a bracelet" Jesse smirks  
"I know that, but since when?"  
"Since today" Jesse answers  
Brocks anger fumes and boils over. "If you're only best friends, I don't think it makes much sense that he should give you a bracelet! An expensive looking bracelet at that! We're married! He's married! Do you even slightly remember the wedding vows? 'Till death do us part'?" he yells.  
Tears well up in Jesse's eyes. "Brock, I...I can't...please..." she says quietly.  
Meanwhile in Kreihana's room, James and Kreihana can hear the yelling, but not the exact words.   
"This is their first big fight" Kreihana mumbles, brushing the fur of her Growlithe.  
James doesn't reply. It's his fault and he knows it. He changes the subject. "I had a Growlithe once" he says. "It lives with my parents now."  
"Cool. I love Growlithe" Kreihana states.  
Just then, Jesse walks in and looks at James. "Uh, could you come out for a second?" she asks politly.  
James nods and waves goodbye to Kreihana. He closes the door behind him and slowly walks behind Jesse to the kitchen.   
"I think you better go" she whispers.  
"Okay, but I don't think it's safe for me to visit anymore" James sighs.  
"Yeah. I might...see you round" Jesse says unconfidently.  
James shrugs. "I'll be at the Pokemon Center. See ya." He walks out and leaves the tension in Jesse's household.  
  
********************************************************  
  
Ash is ouside sitting in his area where all of his Pokemon roam. He is greeted by Pikachu who is busy telling Togechikku that its food is in the blue dish in the kitchen.   
"Pika Pi, Pikachu, Pi Pika chuu" (Translation: Ash Brock's at the door)  
"Thanks buddy" Ash says quietly while walking away.  
"Hey Ash" Brock says miserably  
"What's wrong with you?" Ash asks  
"Basically everything" he moans  
"Come inside and spill" Ash offers as Brock walks in  
"I think that Jesse's seeing James" Brock blurts out  
"Are you sure?" Ash asks in surprise.  
Brock nods. "She's acting nervous, and...he bought her a bracelet today" he mumbles.  
Ash looks at Brock in amazement. "Does Kreihana know?"  
Brock shakes his head. "I don't think so. She likes James."  
"Don't worry, Brock. I'm sure you're just overeacting" Ash tries to assure him.  
"What if I'm not? What if the woman I've been married to for fourteen years is cheating on me!" Brock yells.  
"Okay, calm down. We're both going through rough stages here, it's okay" Ash says, not believing his own words. If it was okay, Misty would still be here, he thinks sadly.  
They spend the rest of the afternoon moping around about their misfortunes.   
"Do you think I should go back?" Brock asks.   
Ash shrugs. "Only if you want to."  
"I think I should talk to her" Brock says slowly.  
Ash nods. "Yeah. Good luck Brock."  
Brock gives him a small smile and leaves, as Pikachu enters.  
"Pi, Pikachu Pika?" (translation: "Is Brock alright?")  
Ash is staring into space before he turns back to Pikachu. "Huh? Oh, um, I...I think he's gonna be fine."  
Pikachu sighs. Will Ash ever be his old self? Will he ever stop spacing out?   
"Don't worry, I said he'd be fine and he will be" Ash mutters.  
Pikachu shrugs. "Pikachu Pika." (translation: sure, whatever you say.) It walks out and pays all of Ash's Pokemon a visit.  
  
********************************************************  
  
Jesse quickly shuts the door to her temporary house and runs for her life. She has to get out of there. She has to see James and tell him that she has to choose. Only the decision is too hard.  
She quickly reaches the Pokemon Center and asks about James's room.  
"Knock knock" she says without actually knocking but opening the door anyway.   
James stands up and gives her a small smile. "Hey. You okay?"  
Jesse shrugs. "About as good as I can be at a time like this" she sighs, flopping onto the couch and burying her head in her hands.  
James sits down next to her. "Alright, let me get straight to the point. I have to choose. And it's not easy. I don't want to put Kreihana through this, but then again I'm starting to like you again...so I'm all mixed up" Jesse starts.  
James nods. "Alright. What did Brock say?"  
Jesse laughs sarcastically. "Nearly everything. I don't know what to do" she moans.  
"Okay, I am only going to say two things to you. One: talk to Brock. Two: follow your heart. It's the only thing that can give you answers" James says quietly.  
"Right. I know. Well, I better go talk to him then" Jesse stands up. James stands up beside her.  
"Good luck, Jess. I don't mind what you do, but if you stay I'm gonna miss you like you wouldn't believe" James smiles.  
Jesse nearly starts crying and hugs him. "Okay. I'll...see you tomorrow maybe."  
James nods slowly and lets go of her. "Bye Jesse."  
She walks down the corridor of rooms and makes it to the main entrance without breaking down, before noticing her husband at the front desk. She stops dead in her tracks as he stares at her, then walks up to him.  
"Don't make this public" she pleads.  
Brock shakes his head. "Let's go home" he says, gathering his pokeballs and shoving them in his pockets.  
Jesse nods but says nothing and follows him out.   
They walk home in silence, but both with heaps on their minds. As soon as they enter they check to see if Kreihana is in her room. Fortunatly, she is, so they once again sit at the kitchen table, and Jesse starts biting her nails.  
"What were you doing there?" Brock asks.  
Jesse removes her nails from her mouth and answers with, "Just talking to him. I have to choose and I can't."  
Brock stares at her. "You have to choose? Between him and the person you've been married to for fourteen years?!" he asks in astonishment.  
"Well you're always out anyway!" Jesse yells, then regrets it.  
Brock looks like he's been slapped in the face.  
"Brock, I have to go for a few days" Jesse says quietly.  
"What? Are you going to see him? I thought you hadn't chosen!" Brock says in a flurry.  
"No, no! I haven't chosen! I just need to clear my head, okay?" she says, reaching for his hand. She grasps it like a lifeline and looks in his eyes. "I don't want to leave you, but if you can't trust me then maybe it's best I do" she whispers.  
Brock turns away with tears in his eyes.  
"I'll start packing. Do you want to tell Kreihana, or shall I?" Jesse asks, standing up.  
Brock shakes his head. "I'll tell her."  
Jesse nods and slowly walks to her room.  
  
********************************************************  
  
Meanwhile in Cinnabar Island, Charizard and Charmander are spending their day sightseeing in Cinnabar (Charizard was Brocks, Charmander was James') when something was wrong with Charmander. It kept on shaking uncontrollably. While Charmander tried to hold it in, it couldn't. It screamed a cry of sorrow and turned into a white shimmer, evloving into Charmealon.  
"Charmel, Char Char?" It asks Charizard (Translation: "will you still like me?" They've been an item for as long as everyone else, pay "The Love Of an Older Woman" another visit)  
"Rizard, char ri Charizard" it replies (Translation: "As long as you're still the same person you've always been, I will always like you")  
Charmeleon brightened. It never wanted to evlove because it thought that Charizard would not like it any more  
"Charmeleon, char char!" It jokes. (Translation: "Not long now before I evolve into Charizard!")  
"Charizard! Char char!" Charizard laughs. (translation: it ain't all it's cracked up to be!)  
  
********************************************************  
  
Back in Seafoam Island, Ash is supressing his anger. Everyone has been noticing it, and saying that he has been coping well. When really, he feels like his heart is breaking in a thousand pieces. It's just cos of the media he's tried to keep calm.  
"I can't take this anymore" he says to himself. He gets off from his position on the couch and walks to his room.   
Unbeknown to Ash, Pikachu has noticed his actions from outside.  
"Chikku, Toge Toge?" Togechikku asks. (translation: where is he going?)  
"Pikachu" Pikachu shakes his head. (Translation: I dunno. I might follow him.)  
Togechikku stays outside and Pikachu walks inside on its tiny legs.   
"Pika Pi?" it calls out. No reply. Suddenly, it hears a crash from inside Ash's room.  
Pikachu feels slightly panicked and runs to the room. Easily reaching the low door handle (hehe) Pikachu enters to witness a shocking vision. Ash is standing there, throwing things and yelling.  
"It's not fair! Why did she die?" He picks up their wedding photo and prepares to smash it to pieces.  
Pikachu takes action. "PI-KA-CHUUU!" It shocks Ash, which makes him hold on to the photo.  
When the shocking is over, Ash collapses on the bed into a hysterical fit of tears.  
Pikachu quietly walks over and picks up the saved photo. "Pika Pi, Chu Pika Pika Pikachu." (translation: Ash, she may be gone, but don't destroy such precious things)  
Ash goes quiet and looks up.   
"Pikachu, you can't just go back to normal" Ash explains. "You don't know what it's like."  
Pikachu feels offended. Misty was a friend of it too. Don't bother about that now Pikachu thinks. It gives Ash a hug and sits next to him. What if this never ends? Everyone gets over it, not completly, but they do Pikachus voice inside speaks.  
  
********************************************************  
  
By now, Jesse has returned after two days of solitary living. Kreihana immediatly rushes up to her and hugs her.  
"Mom, thank goodness you're home! Dad's been really quiet and weird..." Kreihana babbles on in the back of Jesse's mind. She has made her decision.  
"Where is your father?" she asks seriously.  
Kreihana stops talking and backs away. "I'll go get him." With that she runs off, leaving Jesse standing alone in the living room.   
A couple of seconds later, Brock enters the room looking like he hasn't gotten any sleep.   
"Hi Brock" Jesse greets him nervously.  
They both sit down on the couch and Jesse takes a big breath. "I've come to a conclusion about this...Brock, I'm sorry...but I think, um..." she stutters.  
Brock shakes his head. "Don't say anything else, I know" he says quietly.  
"You do?" Jesse asks.  
"Yeah. You don't know how much I'm gonna miss you though" Brock sighs.  
Jesse bites her lip to stop tears emerging, but she can't help it. "I'm sorry...Brock, I'm so sorry...I didn't want this..." she wails.  
Brock pulls her close and hugs her for the last time. "I know, I know. What are we gonna tell Kreihana?" he asks.  
Jesse cries even louder. "I don't know. She's gonna hate me."  
"No she's not. Come on, let's break it to her now. There's no point pretending" Brock says sensibly. Jesse stands up after him and follows him to Kreihana's room.   
Brock knocks twice and Jesse wipes away her tears.  
"Kreihana? Can we talk to you?" Brock asks through the door.  
There is a moment's silence. "Yeah, come in" Kreihana answers.  
Brock and Jesse enter and sit on a chair each and Kreihana is already on her bed.  
"Um, Kreihana as you probably know, me and your mother have been having a couple of problems...and we think it's best, if we...you know..." Brock trails off, losing words.  
"Divorce?" Kreihana says bitterly.  
Brock nods. "It's what's best."  
Kreihana's face goes red. She feels like she's about to explode. "Get out" she says softly.  
"But --"  
"Get out" Kreihana interrupts Brock as she stands up.  
"Look, if you would just listen..." Jesse finally talks.  
"I don't wanna hear it! I've heard enough!" Kreihana yells. She sits down, hyperventiliting.  
"You haven't heard enough! You don't even know why!" Brock yells back.  
Kreihana glares. "Then why?" she asks.  
Brock glances at Jesse, who decides to tell her. "Well, do you remember James?"   
Kreihana nods slowly. "He liked Growlithe."  
"Yeah. Well, twenty years ago we were more than best friends" Jesse explains.  
"That's got nothing to do with...oh." Kreihana realises.  
"When he came back..." Jesse gets interrupted.  
"Let me guess. He came back and rekindled your flame?" Kreihana says sarcastically.  
Jesse bursts into tears again. "Don't insult your mother!" Brock scolds her.  
"Well it's true!" Kreihana exclaims.  
Silence fills the room. Kreihana lies down on her bed with her back turned to them and sobs quietly. "Just leave me alone. Please" she whimpers.  
Brock and Jesse look at each other and leave, shutting the door behind them.  
After about five minutes Kreihana comes up with an idea. She releases her five Pokemon from their pokeballs. Growlithe, Raichu, Oddish, Cubone and Squirtle appear.  
"Listen guys. I've got an idea..."  
"Kreihana! Come here for a minute!" Brock's voice yells out.  
Kreihana cringes. "Be back in a sec" she promises and walks out, almost immediatly facing Brock and Jesse.  
"Now what?" she asks rudely.  
"Well, are any of your friends parents divorced?" Brock starts. Kreihana nods.  
"Do you know what happens to the children in the family?" he asks.  
"Well, one parent gets to keep the kids and the parents always choose" Kreihana rolls her eyes.  
"We're going to change that for you. We're letting you choose who you want to live with" Brock says.  
Kreihana eyes grow wide. "I don't want to live with either of you! I hate you both!" she screams, collapsing to the ground on her knees.  
"Kreihana, please be reasonable.." Jesse pleads with her daughter.  
Kreihana looks up and eyes them both. "Well, you wanna know what I really think? I think I'd rather live with dad then live with the person who started the whole business and will be living with James" she remarks.  
Jesse turns away. She didn't have to rub it in.  
"Well I'd love to stay and chat, but my pokemon are waiting for me in my room." Kreihana stands up and walks away, leaving her parents bewildered on the couch.  
  
A/N:That was part one, read on! 


	2. Part two

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, or know anyone who works for Pokemon/Warner Brothers/Ninetendo.  
  
A/N: Okay everyone, here's chapter 2! =) Hope you enjoy!  
  
Jesse arrives at the Pokemon Center with two large suitcases, and walks to James' room without stopping. She knocks and waits. James answers the door and lets her in, she dosen't need to explain.  
"Are you alright?" he asks her.  
Tears stream down her face. "My daughter hates me, so does Brock, Misty's dead, can it get any worse?" James put an arm around her shoulder. She leans on his shoulder and cries. They stay like that for about 5 minutes, before James gently pulls her off.  
"I have to make a phone call" he says quietly  
"To who?" She manages to choke out  
"To my wife." He quickly replies before running out.  
Jesse sighs and flops on the bed. Why does it have to be like this?   
He returns after half an hour with a solemn expression on his face.  
"She didn't take it very well, I'll have to go back and pack my bags" James explains.  
"Well we are we gonna go after that?" Jesse says in almost a panic.  
"Calm down, there's heaps of places. Saffron City is nice" James suggests.  
Jesse nods. "Okay."  
James smiles and hugs her. "This is gonna work out. We'll be fine" he reassures her.  
  
********************************************************  
  
It's a month later and Brock and Kerihana have moved back to Cinnabar Island, after Jesse got her possesions back from there. During that time, Jesse had a very serious talk about her past with her daughter. She told Kreihana about Team Rocket, about the choice she had to make between James and Brock, and she didn't leave out one single detail.  
Maybe she should have left out the Team Rocket episode.  
One day, Kerihana takes a walk to the famous Pokemon house with a torch. She spots Charizard and waves. It waves back  
"Charizard, Char?" It asks (translation: How are you? Charizard adores Kerihana)  
"I'm fine, but I have a favour to ask you." She quickly blurts out.  
Charizards eyebrows rise.  
"Just meet me outside my house at 1.30 in the morning tommorrow," she pleads.  
Charizard considers "Rizard charizard" it replies (Translation: Alright, I'll be there).  
Kerihana smiles "Thanks, bring Charmander as well."   
Charizard is about to say that Charmander evolved a few days ago, but Kerihana interupts its thoughts.  
"I'll see you then" Kerihana says before running away.  
At 1.20, Kerihana releases her Pokemon from her Pokeballs  
"Listen guys, I've gotta leave this place, it's too depressing, you're coming with me, but don't make a sound while I get out, I don't wanna wake dad."  
They stare in silence before agreeing.  
Kerihana smiles. "Great, I'll just put my note to dad in the kitchen."  
When she returns, she places her Pokemon back in their pokeballs. She steps outside and waits for about five minutes before Charizard and Charmeleon arrive.  
"What happened to Charmander?" She asks.  
"Charizard, rizard char char," it smirks (translation: everything changes).  
Kerihanas jaw drops "you don't mean... but it never wanted to evolve, now I'm really stuck" Kerihana sits down with a look of concertration on her face.  
"Chrarizard?" It asks (Tanslation: what's wrong?).  
"Now you can't fly me anywhere, Charmeleon's too big for both of us to ride on your back" she says angerily.  
Charizards face drops "Char, rizad, charizard?" it finishes (tanslation: Where are we going?).  
Kerihana thinks. I may as well tell them now... but will they tell dad? It's worth a try, she decides.  
"I'm running away to Viridian City with my Pokemon, I need you to fly me there" she admits.  
Charizard and Charmeleon nearly faint. "Charizard! Char!" (Translation: I will not help you!).  
"But you must!" Kerihana begs. "If you don't, I'll get a ride from a stranger there, you can't stop me!" She screams. The pressure of the last few events got the best of her.  
Charizard and Charmeleon sigh, then agree.  
Kerihana brightens "great, now Charmeleon, how are you going to get there? Let me think..." She ponders until an indea enters her head. She faces Charmeleon.  
"you'll have to come along in one of my pokeballs" she tells it.  
Charmeleon sulks. "Charmeleon, Char!" (translation: Never on your life!)  
"Then I'll get there my own way" Kerihana shrugs causally.  
"Char, char meleon char!" It screams out (translation: Ok, but only for the ride).  
Kerihana places Charmeleon in a pokeball and they start their journey. They arrive in Viridian in front of the Pokemon Center.   
"Thanks, Charizard, this means a lot to me, make sure you don't tell dad anything about this" She says quitely. She releases Charmeleon form her pokeball. Charmeleon and Charizard stand there quietly, trying not to cry. Kerihana hugs them both, then they leave. Kerihana uses a map given to her and follows the directions needed. She arrives at her destaination and enters a room. The door sign reads, "Uniform and enrollment." She enters to find only one person there, a man patting some kind of Pokemon she can't see in the dark.  
Suddenly nerves hit her. "H-hi, I'm, um, Kreihana...I enrolled a week ago" she explains.  
The man looks confused.  
"I'm Jesse's daughter."  
The man remembers and smiles. "Welcome, young lady, we're glad to have you as a member of our organisation, even in the dark, I can see that you have the same hair as your mother. Here is your uniform and sleeping quarters, you begin work tomorrow and will be assigned with your team mates."  
"Really? That's it?" Kreihana asks in amazement as she clutches her new uniform.  
The man nods.  
"Thankyou sir." Kreihana heads for the door.  
"And by the way...call me Giovanni" the man says.  
Kreihana grins. "Of course, Giovanni" she says politly and shuts the door in excitement. She's done it. She's joined Team Rocket. Now she's gonna have as many adventures as her mom.  
  
********************************************************  
  
"What a great day" Ash mutters as he wakes up. He's in Cinnabar Island to cool off from trashing... well, nearly everything.  
"Pikachu!" Pikachu greets him. (translation: good morning)  
"Hey Pikachu. What should we do today?" Ash asks.  
Pikachu shrugs.   
"I think we should visit Brock and see how he's doing" Ash suggests, getting out of bed.  
Pikachu nods. "Pika Pika!" it agrees.  
Ash quickly looks to his right to his bedside table and shows a sad smile. He is looking at his favourite picture of Misty. She had been laughing at something someone had said and someone had snapped this perfect shot that he was staring at now.  
"Hi Misty. I'm missing you more than ever" Ash sighs. At least he has learnt to control his emotions. A month ago he would've looked at that picture and hurled it out the window.  
He couldn't help letting a tear escape. "It still hurts, but I love you forever" he whispers.  
Pikachu smiles. Thank goodness he's back...well, he's nearly back, it thinks.  
Ash seems to know what Pikachu is thinking and smiles at his best friend of twenty years. "It's a hard road, Pikachu, and you won't know what it's like until you experience it."  
"Pika Pi, Pika Pikachu" (translation: Ash, you're doing fine.)  
Ash smiles. Pikachu couldn't be a better friend if it got paid.  
"Right, let's go see Brock" Ash declares, marching out of his room with Pikachu at his feet.  
After showering, having breakfast and feeding the few pokemon he bought, Ash walks out the door (he only bought a couple of pokemon with him, the rest are being looked after by a friend on Seafoam Island.)  
The walk only takes ten minutes and he slowly knocks on the door. "Brock! Is it too early to visit?" Ash yells.  
Inside, Brock has just woken up and gotten dressed. Thinking Kreihana is in bed, he quietly walks over to the door and opens it.  
"Hey Ash, how are you?" he asks as he lets his friend in.  
"As good as can be expected, I guess. How about you?"  
Brock sighs. "Kreihana's the biggest problem right now. I think she misses Jesse. I'll go and get her, she'd love to see you and Pikachu" he walks over to her door and knocks twice.  
"Kreihana! Wake up!" he yells.  
No answer. No moans of being up too early or not wanting to go to school, despite the fact it's the weekend.  
Brock knocks again. "Kreihana? Ash is here and he's got Pikachu." That's sure to get her up, he thinks confidently.  
Still no response.  
"Uh, Brock, I think you better come into the kitchen, Pikachu's found something" Ash says uncertinatly  
Brock's startled, but goes anyway. Pikachu's holding a piece of paper that has "Dad" written on it. Brock grabs the note in panic, and reads:  
Dear dad,  
I'm sorry, but I can't stay here anymore, it's time I left. Tell mom if you want, I don't care. Tell James that I'm not going to visit ever because I'm busy and still hurting from him taking mom away (which is the truth, anyway) I'm sure he'll understand that.  
Love Kreihana  
Brock can't believe it. His face was drained of colour and he felt like collasping. He sat down quickly and let the piece of paper fall to the ground. Ash picks it up and reads it over and over.  
"Why would she leave?" Ash asks in shock.  
Brock stares at the ground. "Where did she go? I'm never gonna find her, this is all my fault..." he starts babbling in a panic.  
Ash grabs Brock by the shoulders and keeps him quiet. "Okay Brock, calm down, this isn't your fault. We'll call Jesse and the police, they'll find her. She can't have gone far" he reassures Brock.  
Brock doesn't listen. "She's only thirteen! She could get into all kinds of trouble! She could picked up by some stranger and I'd never see her again..." he buries his head in his hands and quietly starts crying.  
"Brock, we're gonna find her. Do you have Jesse's number?" Ash asks.  
Brock nods. "In the telephone book, under J" he instructs.  
"Okay" Ash takes in a deep breath, beginning to feel a little panicked himself. Some wild pokemon could come at her in the forest or something...he didn't need this while he was grieving, but he had to help his friend. He couldn't just turn away.  
He flips through the book and finds Jesse's number in Saffron City with no trouble.  
"Do you want me to call?" Ash asks.  
Brock says nothing, he just stares at the wall. Ash picks up the phone and dials out the seven numbers.  
"Hello?" a female voice answers.  
"Uh, hi, is Jesse there please?" Ash says politly.  
"Ash? Is that you?" Jesse asks.  
"Yeah, how did you know?"  
"I'd recognise your voice anywhere" Jesse laughs.  
Ash gets nervous. "Um, Jesse I've got something to tell you...it's gonna upset you...Brock can't talk cos he's in shock" he starts.  
"Well, what's going on?" Jesse asks quietly.  
Ash sighs. "I'm in Cinnabar for a break. I came over to see Brock and Kreihana. Brock tried to find Kreihana and he couldn't...then we found a note from her. Jesse, Kreihana ran away and we don't know where she's gone" he says quickly.  
There is silence on the other end. In Saffron City, Jesse has collapsed into a chair and nearly stopped breathing.  
"Jesse? Are you still there?" Ash asks worridly.  
"Huh? Yeah, I'm here...where could she have gone? She didn't say in the note?"  
"No, she just said she couldn't stand it here anymore and felt it was time to leave" Ash explains.  
Jesse starts crying. "This is all my fault..."  
"No, it's not your fault, it's nobody's fault...we're gonna call the police and look for her too...she could be just at the park or something" Ash says, doubting his words.  
Jesse unsuscefully tries to calm down. "Thankyou, Ash. Do you want me to come out there?"  
Ash hesitates. "No, don't. Just try and think...did you mention anything to her that might cause her to run away?" he asks seriously.  
"I-I don't think so..." Jesse stammers.  
"Alright. We'll call the police now. Don't worry Jesse, she's a sensible girl, she wouldn't do anything stupid" Ash reasurres her.  
Jesse nods. "Okay. Call me straight away if you find her."  
"We will. Don't worry, she'll be fine."  
"Okay. Goodbye, Ash" Jesse says and hangs up. Ash also hangs up the phone.  
"She's beating herself up over it" he tells Brock, who sighs and slumps in his chair.  
"Well, we've gotta get going, I'll call Officer Jenny, have you got any Pokemon that can fly?" Brock asks  
Ash grins. By sheer luck he brought his Moltres to Cinnabar Island.  
"Sure, I brought Moltres."  
"Great, we can fly over Cinnabar and see if we can spot her, I'll be just a second" Brock grabs the phone and calls Officer Jenny to report a runaway. After that, they run over to Ash's house, grab the pokeball with his Moltres in it, go back outside and call it out.  
"Moltres, we need to get a good areial view of Cinnabar. Fly over this island until we tell you to stop" Ash directs as they climb on.  
"Mol, Moltres!" (translation: anything you say, Ash!)  
They fly around the tiny island for fifteen minutes with no sign of her and an increasing fear in their minds.  
"Where is she..." Brock mutters.  
Ash doesn't answer. He doesn't want to tell Brock that he really thinks Kreihana's gone furthur than Cinnabar.  
Eventually Moltres gets tired, and Ash makes it fly back to his temporary house and rest.  
"She's not on Cinnabar. Where else could she have gone?" Brock asks warily.  
"Well, she could've gone back to Seafoam Island, or even to Saffron to see Jesse...we just have to keep looking and never give up hope" Ash says sensibly. They go outside and see Charizard across the road, looking nervous. It spots Ash and Brock and nearly has a heart attack.  
"Hey Charizard whats up? Have you seen Kerihana?" Brock asks, maybe he knows  
Yeah, I saw her yesterdayand helped her run away Charizard thinks guitily but says "Charizard char rizard?" (not for a while, why?)  
"What's it saying Pikachu?" Ash questions. Pikachu tranlates.  
"Oh" Brock says sadly. "She's run away" he sighs.  
"Charizard" it states without meaning (translation: I know)  
Pikachus eyes widen "Pikachu pi pika?" (translation: how did you know?)  
Everyone stares. Charizard hangs its head. It decides to confess I'll never forgive myself if I don't it thinks  
It confesses to Pikachu that it flew Kerihana to Viridian City. Pikachu tells Ash and Brock in shock. Brock is about to explode.  
"Why the heck did you do that?!" He screams  
Charizard explains to Pikachu that if he didn't, she would've gone there with a stranger. "Charizard charizard char." It finishes (translation: I couldn't let her do that.)  
"I agree with you, I guess you couldn't help it, do you know where she went after that?" Brock tries to stay calm. Charizard shakes its head.  
"Well, thanks for telling us Charizard, I know that that took a lot. Now lets get going to Viridian." Ash says. Pikachu is thinking hard, it's almost glad that Kerihana ran away. Now Ash is more like himself Pikachu thinks relived.  
  
********************************************************  
  
Meanwhile, Kreihana is plotting ideas with her team mate, Rex. He is Kreihanas age and they made friends straight away. She is enjoying this already. So this is freedom she thinks happily. She is thinking hard, so hard that she doesn't notice the shadow above her. Then a Moltres lands a few meters away, interrupting her thoughts.  
"There she is!" A familiar voice calls out. Before she knows it, Brock, Ash and Pikachu are all around her.   
"Let me go! I mean it!" she screams. They gently release her.  
"You can't make me go back! It's not fair! You" she points at Ash "left home when you were ten. I'm thirteen. Thirteen! Treat me like my age!" She catches her breath. "If you take me back, I'll make sure you'll regret it."   
Brock wasn't expecting this. He sighs "I can't make you come back, but I want you to."  
"You can't get everything you want," Kreihana says in a huff.  
"I realise that, but..."  
"But you don't accept it" Kerihana finishes for him.   
Brock starts to get angry "Listen, you could've just told me, but you didn't have to run off with nothing but a note. Look at you! You're like your mother."  
"Well she's the one that gave me this idea in the first place!" Kreihana snaps.  
"I figured that" Brock says grumpily. "Look, just come back with us and we'll work something out...something that works for both of us, okay?"  
Kreihana shakes her head. "This is working for me. And I think you'd be better left by yourself to work out your own problems instead of taking them out on me."  
Brock gets offended. He wants to say, "That's excatly what you're doing!" but keeps quiet.  
"Kreihana, your dad's just trying to help you" Ash steps forward.  
"Don't you talk to me about getting help! You need more help than a Pidgey that can't fly!" Kreihana yells at him.  
Ash glares at her and steps back. "I don't think she's gonna come back on her own free will" he whispers to Brock.  
Brock sighs and supresses the tears in his throat. "Okay Kreihana. Come back when you want to" he says quietly.  
"Yeah, that'll be the day" Kreihana rolls her eyes.  
Brock stares at her. How can her name mean beautiful flower? She's more like poison ivy, he thinks. He hugs her for what he thinks could be the last time and she stiffens.  
"If you'll excuse me I have work to finish" she breaks away and walks back with Rex to Team Rocket HQ, leaving Ash, Brock and Pikachu in shocked silence.  
"Come on Brock, let's go, you can stay here for hours and she won't come back" Ash says realisticly.  
Brock sighs. "I better tell Jesse" he says as they climb back on Moltres.  
"Do you wanna stop by in Saffron to see her?" Ash asks as the bird takes off.  
"Yeah, I better talk to her" Brock says quitely, and Ash directs Moltres to the big city.  
  
********************************************************  
  
"What are you guys gonna do?" Brock asks as they land outside the Pokemon Center.  
Ash shrugs "I'll get Moltres healed, then who knows? We'll just walk around for an hour or so. Is that enough time?"  
Brock nods, "Thanks Ash. See you here in an hour" he farewells them and walks off in the direction of Jesses house which, thankfully, is on the same street as the Pokemon Center.  
"169 Gemstone Lane" he mutters to himself, as he approches the small white house with a red roof.  
"Okey, here we go" Brock says to himself, and he knocks three times.  
To his horra, James answers  
"Uh, is Jesse here?" Brock asks uncertinaly  
"Um, yeah, sure, she's in the kitchen..." James says nervously. Brock ignores James and edges past him. After easily finding the kitchen he finds himself behind Jesse, who is cutting up vegetables.  
Brock stands in silence for a moment before quitely saying "Hi Jesse"  
Jesse turns around, realises who it is and stumbles the kitchen knife, causing her to cut her finger.  
"Yow!" she exclaims in pain.  
"Sorry to scare you, but I have some bad news" Brock announces. Jesse instandtly forgets her finger and stares at him. "Bad news? About Kerihana?" She asks worridly  
Brock nods. "Sit down" he gestures to a chair. They both sit down and Brock starts.  
"I found Kreihana." Jesse's eyes widen and she breaths a sigh of relief.  
"Oh thank goodness! Is she okay? Where is she?" she asks frantically.  
"She's okay, she...um, she joined Team Rocket in Viridian City" Brock explains.  
Jesse stares into space in shock, then quietly starts crying. "This is all my fault" she whimpers.  
"It's okay, she'll come back in her own time" Brock tries to convince her and himself.  
Unbeknown to Brock or Jesse, James is behind the kitchen door, listening to their conversation.  
Oh boy, this isn't good, he thinks. Maybe I should try to convince her to go back...then again, she wouldn't listen to me...  
"Jesse, I just want you to stay here and not worry. She's safe and she's happy" Brock says.  
"She can't be happy if she ran away!" Jesse exclaims.  
Brock goes quiet. "You're right. But she has every right to be unhappy. Her parents just divorced."  
"Why did she run away? My little Kreihana...my beautiful flower..." Jesse lets more tears spill over.  
Brock puts his arm around her shoulder. "Kreihana will probably hate Team Rocket and come home."  
Jesse nods. "Yeah, she'll probably hate the idea of exploiting pokemon."  
Brock checks his watch. "I'm meeting Ash in five minutes, I better go" he stands up.  
"Wait!" Jesse stands up and grabs his arm. "You will call me if you hear from her, right?"  
Brock smiles. "Of course. Don't get yourself in a mess, she'll be fine."  
Jesse nods slowly. "Thankyou for coming, Brock" is all she can say as she leads him to the front door and James hides.  
"No problem. Call you soon" Brock farewells and leaves. He is secretly hoping he hasn't told Jesse a pack of lies.  
  
********************************************************  
  
A month of waiting brings no new news from or about Kreihana. Jesse calls Brock nearly every day to see if she has come home.  
Ash hasn't left Cinnabar yet, saying he'll stay until Kreihana comes back. Brock tried to tell him that it could be months before she comes back, but Ash didn't listen.  
On this day, Ash has just left Brock's house. Brock is sitting on the couch, with his face buried in his hands. He feels like he's lost it all; his wife, his daughter and one of his closest friends (that would be Misty). Why can't anything go right?  
Meanwhile in Viridian City, Kreihana is sitting on her bed, also thinking seriously...about how she's gonna catch more Pokemon. So far, she's caught forty two for her boss.  
"I wonder what he does with them?" she asks out loud.  
Rex walks in. "What are you on about?" he inquires.  
"Huh? Oh, I was just wondering what Giovanni does with the Pokemon I give him" Kreihana shrugs.  
Rex laughs. "Don't you know? Seriously?"  
Kreihana shakes her head. "No."  
"Then why did you join?"  
"Cos my mom had so much fun when she was part of Team Rocket" Kreihana says.  
"Oh. Well...the boss is gonna exploit them to take over the world" Rex says casually.  
"Exploit?" Kreihana asks.  
"You know, take advantage of..." Rex explains.  
Kreihana goes pale. "So I've been catching Pokemon for him to take advantage of?" she whispers.  
"Of course you have" Rex replies.  
"I can't do that! No, I can't, it's not fair to the Pokemon" Kreihana stands up and heads for the door.  
"What are you doing?" Rex asks in surprise.  
"I'm quitting. There are better ways to take over the world. Bye Rex, you've been a great team mate" Kreihana waves and leaves as suddenly as she joined.  
She grabs her suitcase from the storage department, gets changed into some jeans and leaves, knowing that Rex can tell Giovanni about her.  
"Now what?" she wonders as she walks around Viridian City. How is she gonna get home? Then she remembers the money she's made from Team Rocket. Four hundred and twelve dollars. That should get her a flight to Cinnabar Island, or somewhere close.  
She runs to the not far away airport, and books a flight for Cinnabar Island.   
  
********************************************************  
  
"Hi dad." Kreihana says nervously as she opens the door.  
Brocks eyes nearly pop out of his skull, then he comes back to reality. He runs up to Kreihana and gives her a hug.  
"I'm sorry...dad I'm so sorry...they wanted to exploit Pokemon and I didn't want to do that..." Kreihana cries into his shoulder.  
Brock nods. "I know. I didn't think you would enjoy that" he pulls away and studies her. "Well, you might not have grown taller, but I think you've grown up a lot" he says wisely.  
"Yeah. I'm just so sorry" Kreihana apologises repeatidly.  
Brock shakes his head. "At least you're home, and you've learnt a lesson the hard way."  
Kreihana smiles. "How's mom? Is she okay?" she asks worridly.  
"She was beside herself when you left. You know you shouldn't have done that to all of us. You made Ash stay on this island longer, and you put us all through a lot of worry" Brock scolds her.  
Kreihana sighs "I know I did a wrong thing dad, but can we forget it? I want to see Ash and apoligse." Kreihana pleads. Brock knows that she won't pull a stunt like that again. He smiles.  
"Sure, but you might wanna call your mother first" he says sternly.  
Kreihana nods and walks to the phone, easily punching out the numbers she's memorised.  
"Hello?" James answers.  
"Um...hi, this is Kreihana...is mom home?" she asks.  
"Kreihana? Where are you?! Does your dad know where you are?" James asks hurridly.  
"I'm home, can you just get mom?" Kreihana tries not to snap. She is still not James' best friend.  
There is silence on the other end. "Kreihana, your mom is home but I will not let you order me around like your slave" James says quietly.  
"What?!" Kreihana exclaims.  
"You have no idea what you've put your mother through over these past weeks. I bet you never considered anyone else when you left" James says sourly.  
"Of course I did! Listen, I called to talk to mom, not you, so could you please get her for me?" Kreihana asks impaitently.  
James sighs then walks away to get Jesse.   
"Jesse, you got a phonecall" he announces to Jesse, who is brushing her hair. She looks up and quickly rushes to the phone.  
"Hello?" She tries to sound normal in case it's one of her friends.  
Kreihana draws in a shaky breath. "Mom, I'm sorry" she apologises straight away.  
Jesse immediatly bursts into tears of relief.  
"Uh, mom, are you okey?" Kreihana asks uncertianly  
"I'm just so happy," Jeese says between sobs.  
They catch up and Kreihana explains the everything about her time with Team Rocket.  
"I liked my freedom, but hated with I was doing with it" Kreihana finishes.  
Jesse nods. "I thought so. Well, I'm glad you're home, but you have to promise me that you will never do that again."  
"Yup mom, I promise" Kreihana replies.  
"I'm sure your father will set out some kind of punishment for you...but in the mean time, you apologise to Ash cos I know he stayed there longer because of you..." Jesse lectures.  
"Yeah, I know mom, I'll go see him now" Kreihana says in an exasperated voice.  
Jesse smiles at the tone she so often used to yell at. For now she is overjoyed to hear it. "Alright sweetie. You go do that now. Don't get into any more trouble!"  
Kreihana grins. "I won't mom...bye" she says and hangs up. She walks back to where Brock is.  
"I think I should go apologise to Ash" she starts.  
Brock nods. "Yes, I would think so."  
Kreihana follows her father in silence to Ash's temporary house, only five minutes walk away. They go through the front door without knocking, and Brock yells out, "Ash! Kreihana's come back!"  
Ash comes through to the kitchen. "Well, looks like someone changed their mind about Team Rocket" he smiles.  
"Yeah...you understand, right? I mean, you love pokemon and everything..." Kreihana babbles.  
"Uh, Ash, Kreihana has something she wants to say to you..." Brock nudges Kreihana.  
She stops talking. "Right." She sighs and starts. "Ash, I know that over these past few months you've been anything but happy, and what I did can't have made it any easier...so I wanna say that I am really, really sorry for putting you through it and for making that comment about the Pidgey that can't fly" she says in embarassment.  
Ash shakes his head. "Nah, don't worry about it. But I do appreciate the apology. How would you like to go out back and visit the pokemon?"  
Kreihana's face lights up. "Sure!" she exclaims and runs off, before Ash can explain he only bought a few.  
Ash laughs. "Well, it looks like she's back to her old self."  
"Come to think of it, so do you" Brock notes.  
Ash gives him a sad smile. "I still miss her like anything, but I know that wherever she is, she's fine."  
  
********************************************************  
  
Even though Kreihana is home and happy, something still doesn't semm right in her mind. What's the matter? her annoying inside voice cries out. You've got everything, but you're still not happy? it demands. Kreihana thinks hard. Ever since she joined Team Rocket she really started to live. But what you were doing was wrong, she thinks, and spends the rest of the day in concentration. By the morning, she has come to a decision. She goes into the lounge and is about to confess to her dad.  
"Hi dad" Kreihana says, trying to be causal  
"Hi Kreihana" Brock says easily. Kreihana smiles, then sits down on a chair.  
"Dad, I've got something to tell you" Kreihana quickly says, ignoring her dads raised eyebrows.  
"Well, the time when I was with Team Rocket, I enjoyed all the freedom I had, I just didn't like what I was using it for. So, I'd like to get more freedom by using it as a pokemon trainer with Rex" she explains.  
Brock sighs. "I thought we had discussed this..."  
Kreihana shakes her head. "No. We discussed running away, this is pokemon training. You'll know where I am, and I'll come home sometimes."  
"Kreihana, don't go, you can't now that your mother's gone, I couldn't bear it" Brock says sadly.  
"I have to go, dad. It's the only way I can be happy" Kreihana says.  
"Really?" Brock asks. Kreihana nods.  
"I'll call all the time and drop in...it won't be like I'm actually going for good" she reassures him.  
"It sure will seem like it" Brock sighs unhappily.  
"I know it seems unfair, but..." Kreihana drifts off.  
"I understand" Brock nods. "It's just that... I'll miss you like anything."  
Kreihana smiles and hugs her dad. "I'll miss you too. But I feel I need to do this."  
"Right. Well, let's get you sorted. You can probably get your licence tomorrow from Professer Seaworth, and you won't need any more pokemon...what about Rex?" Brock asks, standing up.  
"I'll call him. He's probably still at Team Rocket, and even if he's not, I've got his home phone number" Kreihana shrugs.  
"Right. Let's get cracking" Brock walks away with Kreihana behind him.  
  
**********************************************************************************  
  
The next day, Kreihana is about to leave. She's meeting Rex on Seafoam Island, so Ash has volunteered to fly her and Brock over on Moltres since he'll be going back there too, then Moltres will fly Kreihana and Rex to Cerulean City.  
"Why didn't you leave earlier?" Kreihana asks.  
Ash shrugs. "I kinda like it here, and I needed to get away for awhile"  
Kreihana nods. "I know" she smiles. Ash takes a Pokeball from his pocket and calls out Moltres. They all get on its back and fly to Seafoam. When they arrive, Rex is already waiting, and greets Kreihana enthusiastically. She introuduces him to Brock, then they prepare for the journey. Brock gives Kreihana some last minute advice, hugs her and wishes them both luck.  
"I promise I'll call, see ya later dad!" Kreihana calls before Moltres flys them out of sight. Brock and Ash wave goodbye. Brock sighs.  
"The problem with kids is that they grow up too fast" he mumbles.  
"That's for sure, look at us!" Ash exclaims. They both laugh.  
  
A/N: So, that's the end of the happy/sad/weird triology. What did you think? I'd love to hear your reviews, remember, I'm new at this! Luv ya, peace! =) 


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